It has already been determined that the Boston Bruins will be hosting the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Winter Classic, at America’s second most beloved ballpark. There was also word that Boston College would play Boston University in an encore game the following day. Now Boston.com is reporting that on August 20th the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Sports Group, and Hockey East will be hosting a press conference at Fenway. The article goes on to say a press release states that also in attendance will be head ice hockey coaches and student-athletes from BU, BC, Northeastern, and UNH.

So based on what happened last time there was a press conference at Fenway with hockey teams involved, we can assume what the outcome will be. Furthermore, an inside source has told us that the BU/BC game is definitely on while the NU/UNH game is being hashed out. Pretty awesome if you ask me! To have UNH play Northeastern in the afternoon and then BU play BC in the evening would be amazing! More to come on this story.

If you’re a hockey fan, and I mean a real hockey fan, then you obviously know the title of this post is from Al Michaels’ play-by-play call of the historic 1980 Men’s Olympic Hockey semi final match-up between USA and Russia (at the time, the USSR), in the upstate New York Olympic Village of Lake Placid. The United States pulled off the big upset in dramatic fashion on their way to the gold medal, and to this day I get goosebumps EVERY time I hear his call of the final seconds. It is arguably the biggest event in sports history, and definitely Michaels’ most famous play-by-play in his storied career as a sports broadcaster.

Now, I bring this game up for two reasons: 1) USA beat Finland last night in the IIHF World Championship to advance to one of Friday’s semifinal contests against the defending champ…you guessed it, Russia; and 2) I stumbled upon this pretty cool 10 minute YouTube video of a different announcer’s call of the game; live, just as he saw it unfold on the afternoon of February 22, 1980 in Lake Placid, NY. The story behind how it came to be is incredible, and I promise worth the read.

Boston University won the Division I National Championship tonight 4-3 in OT. If you did not watch this game then shame on you. Any hockey fan than that considers themself legitimate should have been tuned to ESPN for this showdown. If you think hockey is a joke of a sport, then tonight should have changed your mind. Commissionerdangle and I thought for sure Miami had this locked up when they went up 3-1 with less than 3:30 left in the third. When Jack Parker pulled his goalie with 3:00 minutes left in the third we though for sure this thing was over. But for BU to score 2 goals in less than a minute had us screaming “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL”….next thing you know, our 24 pack was gone and BU was partying in DC. In my opinion Miami had this locked up, in a game I thought the ice was slightly slanted toward BU, Miami made the most of its chances. While I did not have a vested interest in this tilt, I was pulling for Miami, sorry Coach Malloy and Brandon Smith I thought it was locked down.

Fortunately I didn’t have too much to drink at the B’s game last night because of some morning obligations (i.e. work…). However I am still hungover from that game last night! It was like a roller coaster of emotions. Goals, fights and FrenchCanadian fro-hawks EVRYWHERE.

Dont think I have to capacity to do a recap so this post will mimic where my head is at right now. Bruins highlights scrambbled with a bunch of NHL/hockey related links, enjoy:

First…The Game WINNER on a sick play by Bergeron:

FIGHT!

Chara feeding it to Komisarek

(Still looking for the video of Lucic horse collaring Komisarek and some other scrums from last night)

So, I don’t have enough knowledge of the four teams in the Frozen Four this year or enough time to break it down. However, don’t doubt that every member of the Loge will be watching this. There is nothing better than the Frozen Four, and that includes the lousy NCAA basketball National Championship. Note: After players make a great play in hockey, there is no jumping around acting like a lunatic. So if you’re looking for showboating, check out the NBA games tonight, not college hockey. Not to mention there are a few unreal NHL games on tonight with huge playoff implications. Notably Boston vs. Montreal.

So, the NCAA basketball tournament is over. We’re on to baseball season in earnest. But what in God’s name are we going to do between now and the College World Series for NCAA sports entertainment?

Now for the preview, with predictions and everything!

Would anyone care for some hockey? Anyone? Anyone?

Well hey, it only lasts one more week, and this is it, so deal with it. And besides, it’s pretty damn exciting if you give it a chance. So please do.

The first two rounds of the NCAA hockey tournament were ridiculous — if you wanted upsets in basketball and didn’t get enough you should’ve watched hockey — and now the Frozen Four is set with no interference from the other, “more important,” tournament.

In my effort to make you look informed when you actually do watch this, here is my Frozen Four preview.

As promised (albeit a little late), here are the Midwest and Northeast Regional recaps. Just like the East and West Regionals, the MW and NE were filled with exciting games, and last second heroics. Before I get into the recaps, I want to say a quick something about ESPNU’s production over the weekend. I’ll start by saying I wish the NHL was still under contract with ESPN! The commentators and analysts ESPN gets are the best in the business, and I guess that is why ESPN is the best in the business (even though hockey gets ZERO play…you can’t fault them for reporting what the people want). They always show replays, and usually have great camera angles/views. It was good to see Barry “The Mullet” Melrose (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2834375) back in action; after his brief return to coaching “barry’d” the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season (haha, thought of that on my own, no big deal). Anyway, onto what you came here for, Regional recaps.

This weekend was a ‘must see’ weekend for NCAA college hockey as 16 teams squared off to lay it all on the line for a trip to Washington, D.C. and the 2009 Frozen Four. From game-by-game breakdowns to highlight reel plays, goals and saves, we have all your NCAA Frozen Four needs right here at loge19.com.